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Why Was Linux the Kernel That Succeeded?

Posted by samzenpus on from the belle-of-the-ball dept.

jones_supa writes: "One of the most puzzling questions about the history of free and open source software is this: Why did Linux succeed so spectacularly, whereas similar attempts to build a free or open source, Unix-like operating system kernel met with considerably less success?" Christopher Tozzi has rounded up some theories, focusing specifically on kernels, not complete operating systems. These theories take a detailed look at the decentralized development structure, pragmatic approach to things, and the rich developer community, all of which worked in favor of Linux.

2 of 469 comments (clear)

  1. Re:The kernel was tied to the culture by jbolden · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Not sure. 1994 the Open Source community was pretty small. I got support. The BSDs were pretty friendly back then too. But it is a good story about the community.

  2. Re:The GPL by phantomfive · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Systemd is a collection of small executables each with a precise goal, in line with the UNIX philosophy.

    I disagree that Systemd is in line with the UNIX philosophy (for various reasons), and anyone who disagrees either doesn't understand systemd, or doesn't understand the Unix philosophy.

    The Unix philosophy in brief is "write good code."

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."